Linguistics of Albania and Romania in the period of totalitarian society

The paper presents the results of comparative analysis of linguistics in Romania and Albania in the period of totalitarian society (1944-1990). We provide the narrative description of linguistic historiography, which allows determining the linguistics of the countries under consideration in this period as the “totalitarian” linguistics. The general features of “totalitarian” linguistics of Albania and Romania are revealed: the development of theoretical and applied linguistics is conditioned by the transformation of linguistics into one of the key spheres of influence of the state and party leadership of the country, which determined the strategy of linguistics development. This influence is most obvious in sociolinguistics, for it investigates the problems of the relationship between language and ideology, language and consciousness, the role of language in the society, its social differentiation, etc. It is shown that totalitarianism is manifested in the control over the activities of linguists, in the political order of research in the linguistic sphere, in the ideological commitment of academic approaches and assessments. It is pointed out that the role of the totalitarian state in the “totalitarian” linguistics consists in the symbiosis of destructive and constructive influences: on the one hand, the totalitarian ideology prevents progressive development of linguistics in accordance with its immanent laws, and, on the other hand, the practical orientation of linguistic research contributes to the significant development of the theoretical aspects of general linguistics.